Strawberry Fields Forever
by Lar-lar
Summary: Craig Cramer thought he would do just about anything to have Tweek Tweak back in his life... Craig/Tweek, rated for language and slash in later chapters, secondary pairing of Stan/Kyle.
1. Prologue

**Title:** Strawberry Fields Forever by Lar-lar.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own South Park or any of its characters.

**Author's notes:** Okay so this whole thing started after a dream I had which I can't even REMEMBER anymore ;; Lucky for me? I made notes when I DID remember! XD I find the idea interesting and I must say, it's very easy to write, I'm really enjoying myself with this! Hence why I'm posting it as I STILL work on 'CWB', I wanted to finish that first but... this one is simply taking up all my time, I can't stop writing it. So here you are – have two fics and drabbles all at once!

(Please be aware that I am NOT American, so I'm sorry if some of the things I reference in this aren't 100 accurate – I TRY to get things as close as I can, but being all English and stuff, I sometimes automatically revert to the way things are done here. Opps.)

--

_Living is easy with eyes closed,_

_Misunderstanding all you see._

_It's getting hard to be someone but it all works out._

_It doesn't matter much to me._

_Strawberry Fields Forever by The Beatles._

--

**Prologue;**

He did not know what time it was.

Just that it was dark, and he only knew that because the setting sun was not still trying to force itself through the paper-thin curtains like it had been when he had first arrived in the room.

He blinked in the darkness, moving his eyes to search out his new surroundings. He did not remember much about earlier – just the sex part, really – which suited him fine, but he supposed knowing where he was might be beneficial for getting back to where he should be later, though.

His search told him he was in a dorm room and therefore probably still in his own college, which was good. The only other thing he could tell for sure in the current light was that the guy he was sharing a bed with was still asleep. That was good too, he hated all that post-sex talking crap.

He shifted a little in a vain attempt to get comfortable, but he doubted he would sleep much now. He had been here before; maybe not in this room, in this bed with this guy but there had been plenty of other rooms, beds and guys in the last ten weeks.

He thought he should probably care about this decline in moral behaviour, his roommate certainly seemed to, and he was starting to get something of a reputation, but he could not help but think (when he allowed himself to) that this was better than the alternative.

He had not spoken to him in over ten weeks now, not since he had moved away and started college.

Not since his and Kyle's leaving party.

Not since the next day when he had woken up in bed, head pounding, naked and with _him_.

His best friend.

He had been surprised at how much he remembered. Surprised and troubled.

_Every movement, every touch, every sound... _

It would have been easier if he could not remember anything.

So much easier to get over someone he had no right ever wanting in the first place, let alone taking advantage of when all he had done was help throw a party for his best friend who was leaving for college the next day.

He deserved all he got.

If this was what it took to get over what had happened that night, he would do it.

If random guys were what it took to get one guy off his mind, he was willing.

If they could only be friends again?

Craig Cramer thought he would do just about anything to have Tweek Tweak back in his life.


	2. Chapter one

**Author notes; **Okay, here we go First chapter up and ready to go! I'm not great at editing my own stuff so sorry if there any grammar or spelling mistakes, I hope the writing is interesting enough to over look such things if I've failed too badly. Also? I HATE the fromatting, Gah! WHY?! Hope it's not too messy and squished to follow easily. So um... Yeah! Here you go, enjoy!

(I REAPEAT - Please be aware that I am NOT American, so I'm sorry if some of the things I reference in this aren't 100 accurate – I TRY to get things as close as I can, but being all English and stuff, I sometimes automatically revert to the way things are done here. Opps.)

**Chapter one;**

"Where have you been all night?!" Kyle Broflovski squawked almost the second Craig Cramer set foot into the dorm room he shared with the red-head, ignoring the assault on his ears and instead walking passed the other and flopping down on his bed with a sigh.

"Around." He replied, lifting a hand and making an 'around' gesture with his finger while Kyle looked on, half-scowling, half-concerned.

"I gathered that much." He informed, rolling his eyes as his room-mate yawned from his bed, he could not help wondering, and not for the first time, just why he had gone out of his way to get a room with him just for the sake of sharing with someone he knew – he did not feel like he knew Craig at all anymore. "Don't you think what you're doing is a little stupid, huh?" Craig simply waved off the remark, seemingly not bothered.

"Yeah, yeah" The red-head's concern melted to leave just the scowl at that, could he not see he was trying to help?! Craig had always been hard to talk to, to reason with, but this was a whole new world of stubborn, even for the brunette.

"You even remember his name this time?" He asked, trying a different tactic this time, trying to irritate the other into talking to him, yelling at him even – he did not really care just anything would do. But Craig did not seem rattled, simply pulled himself up and made his way over to his chest of draws.

"I think it began with K..." He told him after a moment before rummaging through the draws, pulling out a towel then making his way to the small washroom their room offered – toilet, sink and just enough room to wash and clean teeth, really – grabbing a bottle of shampoo and shower gel, meaning to make his way to the shower block but stopped by Kyle who stood in the doorway, glaring daggers and not about to move until he had his say. Craig stood and waited. It was easier that way.

"Jesus, Craig! What the hell is wrong with you lately?!" He began, tone sharp and louder than was normal for the bookish red-head. Craig knew the other had a temper, _God! Did he have a temper..._ But this was more of a desperate tone. Even knowing that, the brunette only sighed and folded his arms, making it obvious that he was not in the mood for a lecture and that only seemingly spurring Kyle on. "Do you have any idea what could happen to you?" He asked, the desperation even clearer to see in his eyes now as he tried to get the other to understand. "You could catch something, get hurt, Christ! YOU don't even know where you are half the time, let alone any of your friends!" He sighed, conceding to the fact that he would not get through to the other, at least not today, but unable not to try one least warning; "You HAVE to see how dangerous that is." But if he did, he did not care, simply taking a look at his watch before returning his gaze to Kyle, the red-head sighing and stepping out of his way. "Craig..." He began and for a second, he thought he might be getting somewhere, he thought the other was ready to listen as he paused in the doorway for a moment, but...

"I'm gonna grab a shower." He told him, passing the other his cell phone and watch. "Look after these, yeah?" And then he was gone, sauntering off down the quiet, Saturday morning hallway and towards the shower block. Kyle shook his head.

"Asshole." He muttered, closing the door and dumping Craig's things on their shared desk before sinking into the chair, pulling off his glasses and burying his head in his hands with a sigh. "Why do I bother, again?" He had no idea. Maybe because they were friends? Because he supposed they were, _in an odd sort of way... _

He had never really been very involved with the brunette when they were both living back in South Park, but in the summer break between leaving high school and starting college they had spent a fair amount of time together, knowing they would be sharing a room soon and making an effort to be friendly. He had been surprised, Craig did not seem as bad as he had always thought, for whatever reason, not until a week or two into their freshmen year when he had started to not come back at the weekends...

Kyle sighed again, he wondered why he should even care. Obviously whatever was wrong with Craig was not something he wanted to talk about, and he got their room to himself far more this way so then what was the big deal? How he dearly wanted to go along with that... But he knew it was a big deal, he heard what people said about him, the names they called him and above all that he recognized that this 'new life style' of his was far from safe. He thought about calling Stan, asking him what he should do but then again, why Stan would want to help Craig, he had no idea. Not that they disliked each other, but they were hardly best friends either. If he was to call anyone, he supposed it should be Clyde or Token. Maybe even Tweek, although knowing him the blonde would probably just work himself up to a point where he was convinced Craig was dying of super AIDS or something...

He chuckled. The cell phone on the desk in front of him began to churn out the theme tune to Red Racer at that and Kyle stopped his amusement to let his eyes wander down to the now flashing display to see who it was calling. 'Blondie' it read, and Kyle smiled. Blondie was Tweek, he knew that for sure, but what he did not know was whether he should answer on not... he picked up the phone and watched it as it flashed and rang until finally deciding what the hell, and hitting the green 'answer' button.

"Craig's phone, Kyle here." He spoke into the receiver.

"Kyle?" Yep, that was Tweek's voice. "Jesus! He's not even answering the phone to me now! Oh God, what am I gonna do?!" Kyle frowned, an over-reaction maybe? The twitchy blonde was known for them, after all, but maybe... _just maybe..._

"Hey Tweek," he greeted, as if the previous rant had never happened, "Craig just popped out for a shower, should be back soon, you good?" A pause, and Kyle thought he could almost hear the blonde on the other end of the line thinking over his words and scanning them for any form of insult or sarcasm.

"Oh," he said finally, then paused again, Kyle waiting for the other to go on, used to his ways far more than he was to Craig's, even before his personality transplant, "I'm o-okay, I-I think." Another pause, apparently Tweek was not a telephone person, "Umm, how are you?"

"Pretty good, thanks." Kyle replied easily, wondering if to mention Craig's recent behaviour or not. Maybe just ask if he had heard anything, they were best friends after all, even if he could not recall him having visited them since they had moved... _Odd..._ "Hey Tweek, can I ask you something?"

Silence.

"...Sure?" Kyle rolled his eyes again.

"It's alright Tweek, nothing's wrong, relax." He paused, wondering if the other would reply but when he did not right away, continued speaking himself, "How's Craig been lately?"

More silence.

"Tweek? You there, dude?" He asked.

"Y-yeah." A pause, then a sigh. "I-I haven't t-talked to Craig s-since the p-party." He muttered, causing the red-head to frown, about to ask why when Tweek spoke again, "He's mad at m-me. Or at least, I-I think h-he is... H SHOULD be, b-but I dunno..." he trailed off with another sigh and Kyle only frowned more – that information made a whole lot of other things make sense. _Maybe..._

"Dude, what the hell happened to you guys?" He asked, missing Tweek's response, if indeed there had been one, as Craig walked back into the room, his clothes hung over one arm, hair dripping wet and a towel wrapped around his waist. Kyle raised an eyebrow. He supposed not caring what people thought could be a good thing but in Craig's case? He really wished the guy would get some kind of boundaries set up.

"Hang on, Tweek." He spoke down the phone, the blonde at the other end muttering a quick 'okay s-sure' before Kyle held the device out to his room-mate, who simply frowned at first the phone, then Kyle. "Tweek called for you," he explained, motioning for the other to take the phone already, "I answered it, thought it might be important." To his surprise, Craig did not say anything, just stared at the phone in Kyle's hand, his face a jumble of emotions, none of which Kyle had seen the other show recently. "Craig? What's wrong?" The brunette snapped his eyes up to his room-mate's at the question, moved his lips wordlessly for a moment, then shook his head, taking the phone and a deep breath before holding the device to his ear.

"Tweek, hey man." He said, voice almost like his usual, cock-sure tone, although Kyle thought he recognized a slight waver, Craig was uncertain of something, so it seemed... The red-head turned back to face the desk, picked up one of the book that lay there and pretended to read.

"Yeah, I know, sorry man – I've been real busy, that's all. How about you? Doing alright?" Craig? Was SORRY?! Kyle frowned again and leaned back a little in his chair, listening harder. "No, really, I'm fine!" A laugh, not a real laugh, but not completely fake, almost relieved. "I know, I know... Hey, w-why don't you come visit us next weekend? We can catch up, sound good?" _Did he just stutter?!_ "Uh-huh. Yeah, sure man." A pause, he listened. "No, Christ, you're still worrying way too much! I can sort something out, it's fine." Another pause, more listening. "Yeah, I'll come meet you at the parking lot." A third pause, even more listening. "I'll call you before then, chill out, Blondie, yeah? You chilled?" A shorter a pause this time. "Good, good. Okay, I'll see you then man, bye now." He hung up the phone and glanced over to where Kyle still sat, pretending to read and not listen. He flipped him off.

"Tweek's coming up next weekend, that's cool, right?" Kyle nodded, trying to hide a relieved smile. Next weekend – that meant Craig would have to be here too, no running off with whichever guy happened along, no worrying, no danger. At least not for that weekend.

"Sure, not a problem, dude." Craig simply nodded, making his way back to his chest of draws and searching through them again, no thanks was offered but the red-head could see quite clearly that his room-mate had cheered up a bit. _Maybe that was what this whole thing had been about all along after all?_ He almost hoped so, then it would end and everyone would be happy and... "Hey, you going somewhere?" He asked, snapping himself out his thoughts in time to see the brunette had dressed again and was towelling the excess water from his hair in front of the small and half-rusted mirror that hung above their sink, having left the washroom door wide open.

"Out." He replied, taking a comb and running it through his damp, shoulder length hair. "I've got a date." Kyle tried not to show he was bothered.

"Oh? What's his name?" He asked, trying to sound as casual as possible, actually surprised when Craig pulled his hair back into a low pony tail and dropped the comb, grabbing his keys and phone again, slipping them into his coat pocket before pulling the coat on.

"Dave... Something. I think." He told him, making his way to the door and then pausing, one hand on the handle, before turning back and offering his room-mate a grin followed by a wink. "Don't wait up." He told him, then he was gone again. Kyle sighed.

"Why me?"

xox

Back in South Park, Tweek hung up the phone and took a deep breath.

Then another.

And another.

And another.

Kenny McKormick rolled his eyes from across the counter, but said nothing. Simply sipping at the same hot chocolate he had been drinking for the last three hours – precisely how long it had taken Tweek to get up the courage to call his best friend. The way Kenny figured it, if he had waited that long already? A few more minutes probably would not kill him.

"H-he's not mad." The blonde behind the counter said at last, causing the other to look up, unsurprised. "He SHOULD have been mad at me, but he said he isn't." Kenny shrugged, sensing the other was not done just yet and not feeling like he should interrupt. "That's... It's not right man! It's NOT! He should be mad but he isn't! Craig's ALWAYS mad, man! It's not right! GAH!" The frantic tugging of blonde hair which followed told Kenny that he was done, for now at least.

"Why would he be mad at you, Tweekers?" He asked, he had a feeling they had been through this already, or at least he himself had asked the question, the twitchy blonde opposite never managed to give him an answer, if he remembered rightly.

"You know why! I... I... Gah! OhmyGod! I can't believe it! I... GAH!" More hair tugging was now accompanied with darting eyes and a slight rise in the teen's colour. Kenny had to say, he was intrigued – had been since he first wandered in off the streets, bored now his friends had all gone off the college and in need of a friendly face - that was probably the only reason he had stuck around this long, truth be told, but Tweek did not need to know that little fact and besides, he felt he had already paid for whatever this juicy piece of gossip was and then some.

"Look man, we went through this already, hours ago, about the same time I bought my drink, remember?" Tweek blinked for a moment then nodded slowly, regarding the other with wary eyes. "So that means if you want me to know whatever the hell it is you're so worked up about, you have to TELL me first, alright?" His tone was condescending, and he knew it. Tweek on the other hand, seemed oblivious to this and just nodded again.

"W-well, you see, m-me and C-Craig, we haven't r-really talked much l-lately, not s-since the p-party for him a-and Kyle." Kenny frowned while Tweek's fingers played with one of his work-apron ties, the end frayed from what Kenny thought must have been years of the same abuse.

"Damn, Tweek, that was over two months ago! No wonder you're so messed up!" He shook his head, feeling a little sympathy for the other teen now, "And I just thought you were just being a fag and missing your super-best-friend." He grinned then, to show he was only half serious, but the gesture seemed to be lost on Tweek.

"Two months, two weeks and a day an' a half." He corrected. "But I DO miss him Kenny! I miss him a lot and I haven't spoken to him since I..." He broke off, eying his friend warily again, trying to work out what his reaction might be before actually saying the words, "...I got drunk." He finished eventually, a half truth being all he could manage with the way Kenny was waiting so expectantly, the way he continued to do so at that, apparently not finding that information enough and causing Tweek to sigh, eyes moving now to watch his hands as they picked at the threads of his apron tie. "And so did he, and we kinda... We sorta... " He trailed off again, rise in colour now officially reaching blush status and causing Kenny to smirk.

"You had sex with him?" He finished for him, the reaction that caused far more amusing then the dirty-blonde teen could have possibly imagined.

"Jesus CHRIST, Kenny! Not so loud!" He gazed around the near-empty store, eyes wide as he searched for anyone who might have heard and finding none before returning his gaze back to a now rather amused Kenny. "My dad owns this place, man! The people who work here TALK to him! Don't say stuff like that, if they hear and tell him? Jesus, I dunno what he would do!" Kenny tried to stifle an amused snigger rather unsuccessfully.

"Yeah, yeah – sorry." He said dismissively, purposely trying to downplay the situation. "It's true though, right?" Another blush but this time, Tweek nodded a little, eyes still darting about wildly, just in case. "Damn, I didn't know you had it in ya, Tweekers." He laughed at his unfortunate choice of words there, unable not to add; "In more ways than one." Tweek blinked, apparently the joke was lost on him.

"A-anyway, he didn't talk to me in the morning, just kinda... got up and left so I figured he must be mad at me." Kenny moved to respond to that, but Tweek just started off again before he had a chance; "And he didn't call me either, not for weeks and weeks! The pressure, man! GAH!" He tugged at his hair for a second, then took a few more deep breaths and continued. "Clyde said I should call him, 'cos Craig's an asshole and he wouldn't call me, so I thought I would but that took me weeks to manage and now..." Kenny interrupted there, still a little lost.

"So, why would Craig be mad at you 'cos you had sex?" He asked. As far as he was concerned, sex was a good thing. It put you in a good mood, it was fun and casual sex with hot friends was all the better – no strings. He frowned, genuinely confused. "I don't understand." And for a moment, it appeared that Tweek did not either, the blonde simply blinked some more and moved his lips, not making any sound, for a few seconds.

"W-well, I dunno! He didn't talk to me, I figured he was mad, that was pretty much it, you know?" Kenny nodded slowly, he supposed that could make sense and even more so in the mind of Tweek. "That's not the worst part, though!" He continued, and Kenny sighed. He was not sure how much more of this he could take...

"Well, what IS the worst part, hmm?" He asked, playing the role of dutiful friend well.

"He wants me to go see him next weekend!" Tweek exploded. "For the WHOLE WEEKEND, MAN! I can't do it! I can NOT take that kinda pressure! No way!" More hair tugging and frowning followed – the former from Tweek, the later from Kenny.

"Alright, so let me get this straight; You thought Craig was mad at you 'cos you got drunk and had sex but you missed him so when you finally did call him and he said it was fine and invited you for a visit, that made things worse?" Tweek nodded and Kenny blinked. "That makes no sense, Tweekers."

"It DOES though!" Tweek snapped back, taken over completely with the enormity he saw this whole thing for. "It makes perfect sense! It..." He paused and frowned, _okay, maybe it didn't..._ "Well, I still don't think it's a good idea."

"Why not?" Was Kenny's next question, unless his jittery friend had feelings for the other teen, he really did not see... He paused, eying Tweek suspiciously as he stared back at him, obviously uncomfortable with his friend's look. "You like him, don't you?" Tweek's eyes went wild and he shook his head vigorously.

"No! I was drunk! He was drunk! WE. WERE. DRUNK!" Again, Kenny was unable not to chuckle at that response, Tweek's simple reaction saying more than words ever could in his mind. "W-we're best friends, man. Even I'm not stupid enough to mess that up by... You know."

"Getting drunk and getting laid?" Kenny offered helpfully, Tweek managing a half-decent scowl that got nothing but more sniggers from his friend.

"You're not helping." He told him, tone as serious as his previous look had been for all of a few seconds before his shoulders sagged and he sighed. "I don't like him like that, really. We just got drunk, that's all, but he's obviously mad at me or he would have called, right?" He nodded to himself. "See, it makes sense and I don't wanna be stuck with him all weekend if he's mad and doesn't want me there." This time, Kenny found he could see Tweek's point, it could be very awkward indeed if he was right. He frowned, stirring the very last of his drink before licking the plastic spoon.

"You driving over there, right?" He asked, Tweek flinched – he hated driving, even more so on his own – but nodded. "Then how about I call you Saturday night and if it's not going well? You can say theres been some family emergency and come back? How's that sound?" Tweek beamed at his friend for that, nodding vigorously again and causing more chuckles. "But really man, it'll be fine, I'm sure – Craig probably thought you were mad at him, you know how stubborn he can be sometimes." _Boy, did he..._

"I guess, maybe..." He agreed somewhat grudgingly, "But thanks anyway Kenny, that makes me feel much better." And he did, which was... nice. _Yes, very nice. _He had talked to Craig, he did not seem mad, he was going to see him next weekend and he had the perfect escape planned if anything happened.

"It's cool, Tweekers." Kenny replied, glad to have helped but even more so that they could maybe talk about something else now. "I think I earned a drink on the house, don't you?" Tweek smiled and nodded, moving to fetch his friend another hot chocolate, much happier now and for once actually looking forward to something, now all the possible problems had been worked through. Yes, next weekend was going to be fun!

_What could possibly go wrong?_


	3. Chapter Two

**Author notes; **Alright so! Next chapter is ready, willing and able for you guys to take a look at. I haven't been writing for a while, but I had this and the next chapter done already so I figured I'd space them out as best I could to make up for my lack of anything new, I'm really sorry, but I'll try and get writing properly again soon! Craig's logic in this chapter is just too awesome for words, I love it and this chapter marks the start of the semi-style stuff too, just in case you were interested and finally I'm lazy so ignore any spelling/grammar mistakes, kthx. Still hate you, formatting. Here you go, enjoy!

(I REPEAT - Please be aware that I am NOT American, so I'm sorry if some of the things I reference in this aren't 100 percent accurate – I TRY to get things as close as I can, but being all English and stuff, I sometimes automatically revert to the way things are done here. Opps.)

**Chapter two;**

_Can I see you again, Craig?_

Five words the brunette was not used to hearing and even less so with his name attached to the end.

Said brunette shook his head, walking his way towards his first class of the day, book bag slung over his shoulder and the hand attached to the arm not holding this item in place, buried deep in the pocket of his hoodie.

"You look happy." His red-headed roommate greeted as he made his way into the science lab, throwing his bag down on the bench beside said roommate and pulling up a stool to sit down on before folding his arms on the work surface in front of him and resting his head on them with a sigh.

Kyle frowned.

"Seriously dude, what happened?" He asked, more concerned now. Sure, he and Craig had never been all that close, but living with someone for months on end tended to make their problems your problems whether either of you wanted them to or not. Craig lifted his head and turned it slightly to see his friend as he spoke.

"That Dave guy," he began, watching as Kyle nodded, "He wants to see me again. As in, date me." He shook his head, uncomprehending. "He wants to date me. Date. Me." Kyle blinked, clearly not understanding why Craig was having so much trouble with what, to him, seemed like such a simple concept.

"Well, isn't that a good thing?" He asked, poking a little for something that might help him understand. After all, Craig was far from shy about his sexuality, so why dating instead of just sleeping with a guy would bother him so much, he had no idea. "Don't you like him?" Craig simply sighed.

"I dunno." He replied, moving his head again to stare at the nothing that was going on at the head of the class, "He's pretty cool, I suppose, taking media, wants to be a director which is interesting." Kyle listened, more than a little surprised. It was not like Craig to get so much information on a first 'date'. Not like this 'new' Craig, anyways.

"Sounds like you guys have a lot in common." He said almost automatically when he realized the other had stopped talking, remembering how Craig had been really into all that kind of stuff back in school. "I take it he's a good lay too?" He added, making sure the appropriate smirk was in place and more than a little surprised when Craig simply shrugged.

"Wouldn't know." He informed the other, causing him to gape.

"You mean...?" He trailed off and Craig shook his head, only causing the red-head to become more confused. "So, what your saying is you actually went out with a guy, talked to them, listened to them and didn't sleep with them?" Craig nodded this time, eyes still fixed dully to the front of class. "That's gotta be a first," he muttered that part under his breath but did not fail to see the middle finger his friend offered him in response and had to chuckle at that, "You _do_ like this guy, don't you?" Another nod. "Then, what's the problem?" This time, Craig shook his head and shrugged, letting out a slow sigh as Kyle continued to frown. "I really don't understand you, man."

"Yeah, me neither." He admitted, much to the red-head's surprise. "I'm too messed up for all this shit, man." He told him, sighing a second time and trying to ignore the other staring what felt like a burning hole through his skull. "I should tell him no, save him the fucking headache."

"Don't be an asshole." Kyle chastised, causing the brunette to sit up straight and turn to look at the other, frowning. "And DON'T you try and tell me that's what you're trying not to do. I have no idea what the hell has been up with you since we started at this place, but if you don't quit it soon, you really will end up destroying yourself." That little out-burst had been unexpected. Unexpected and quite probably very true but that was neither here nor there.

"But I..." He began, trying to defend himself, when Kyle cut him off.

"Don't, alright?" He snapped, Craig blinked at the sudden and sharp-toned reprimand. "You go and tell that guy you'll date him and for once in your life enjoy yourself." He paused for a moment, wondering just how far to push the other teen. Sure, they were friends but seriously, this self-destructive behaviour was not only getting on his nerves but had been causing him a fair amount of worry to boot. If Craig could just see past all this insanity and give someone a chance other than those same three guys he had been friends with since forever, Kyle really thought they might both be able to survive rooming together.

"I enjoy plenty of things!" The brunette snapped before he could add anymore to his little speech, however, that comment only causing Kyle to roll his eyes.

"Drinking coffee and playing stupid video games with Tweekers doesn't count." He pointed out, knowing full well that even that the other had been lacking as of recently.

"Fine, whatever." He muttered, defeated but not as annoyed as he thought he probably should be. He supposed maybe that was because he knew Kyle was right in some sort of weird way, not that he would ever admit it.

"Good. Maybe you'll be able to get that stick out of your ass by the time Tweek visits that way, I'm sure he doesn't want to drive all that way and sleep on a beat-up couch just to listen to you whine about a bunch of stupid crap you've got into you head is important." Craig's good humour at the previous telling off faded sharply at whatever dig that may have been about his and Tweek's relationship, promptly that middle finger shot up in Kyle's direction, a glare accompanying it, as he almost spit three words at him.

"You can talk." That wiped the smug look from the red-head's face, but brought up one that was very similar to the look Craig was sporting himself. About to snap back at him, their teacher made his way into the lab and Kyle, ever the good student turned away from his tormentor.

"Shut up." He snarled, turning his eyes front and starting to get his stuff ready for the coming lesson, he could still see Craig smirking out of the corner of his eye, however.

"I will if you will." He replied, voice almost happy now and Kyle sighed, he had little choice for the time being, at least.

"Fine."

xox

After classes (Biology with Kyle for two hours and a further three hours of environmental sciences in which he knew no-one and could not care less about the fact) Craig found himself slowly wandering towards his would-be suitor's dorm room, still undecided on what he was going to say or how he was supposed to deal with this whole ordeal, which he supposed was not what it should be anyway but...

He shook his head and cursed his stupidity under his breath.

It was stupid, the worrying involved in this, if Dave liked him and he liked him enough back? Why the hell not date? There was nothing wrong with that, after all, and it was not like he had not dated guys before anyway so _just why the hell...?_

Sadly, Craig did know why and he hated himself even more.

Tweek, of course. Since when was it that his thoughts and feelings did NOT revolve around his best friend in some pathetic way? God, it was crazy! Tweek did not like him like that. Tweek was not even gay! He knew all this and still there was this pathetic shred of hope holding him back from anything aside from the punishment of meaningless on night stands.

He scowled to himself as he stopped at the door to Dave's room, raising an already fisted hand to knock on the wood before he had a chance to change his mind. He did that a lot, not that he would let anyone in on this small fact – not anyone but a select few and none of which were anywhere near where he was right now, so...

"Craig?" A teen with longish but tidy chestnut hair asked on opening the door, blinking as if the brunette had been the last person he had expected to see. "What are... I mean, I didn't expect to see you again so soon." Craig tried one of his best smiles and motioned to be let inside, the other teen standing aside to let him do just that and closing the door behind him, watching as his guest threw his bag down on the floor and took a seat at his desk.

"Yeah, I know man, and I wanna say sorry. I was an asshole Saturday." Dave nodded slowly, he did not mind so much as he just really did not understand the other teen, not by a long shot.

"it's fine," he replied, taking a seat opposite Craig on the edge of his double bed (quite how he had managed to get himself a double room minus a room-mate was something he was not about to argue with), "A lot of guys practically run from me when I ask if I can see them again." Craig tried to laugh that off as the joke he hoped it was meant to be, despite Dave's face remaining more-or-less blank and making any real conclusion on the matter hard to arrive at.

"I am sorry about that," he repeated instead, looking over to the other teen as he spoke and trying to let just how much he meant that show through because above all things, he was sorry. "You really picked a difficult person to wanna date, you know," he continued both seriously and not, "I feel it's only fair to warn you of that, I'm more fucked up than you know." Dave just smiled, rolling his eyes a little and obviously accepting of the apology he had been offered.

"Thanks for the warning," he replied, smile in his voice as he spoke, "But I think I'll be the one to judge who I want to date and whether they're worth the trouble or not, alright?" Craig only nodded to that, there really was no point in arguing his point with this guy, that much he had worked out already and anyway, he supposed he was right – trying to tell other people what was best for them never did work out too well. Unless it was Tweek who actually seemed to like that...

_But no, we're not thinking about Tweek, are we?_

_No._

"Besides, I like you." Craig heard Dave continue, a certain playful tone in his voice that caused him to look up again and see the other teen leaned towards him, still smiling with what seemed to be genuine affection, "That's enough for now, don't you think?" Craig could not help but smile a little himself at that, he supposed it was enough and perhaps just what he needed – to live in 'for now' instead of yesterday or tomorrow of twenty years from now when he hoped to have his doctorate and be travelling the world and maybe dragging Tweek along for company and...

"Sure, for now." He agreed, moving to sit beside the other teen and giving him a brief suggestive grin before leaning in to join their lips.

_Yes, this might be just what I need._

_For now._

xox

It was nearly six in the evening when a very tiered Kyle finally made his way back to his and Craig's room after spending a good three hours studying in the library for an exam that was not scheduled for another few weeks. Craig would laugh at him if he knew, and that was the main reason he chose to study in the library and not in their room. Craig might not need to study (and it was completely beyond him how he managed to get such good grades without doing so, he never seemed like the type to be so academically gifted and to a point, it annoyed the red-head how little it seemed his room-mate even had to try) but he certainly did and even if he did not, he probably would have anyway – just to be sure.

"Hey Rusty, how's life treating my favourite Jew, hmm?" Kyle snorted at the random nick-names, Craig liked to come up with new ones every chance he got and he had been called much worse in his day so he was content to leave the matter there without making a big deal out of it. Content at that and glad to see the other happy.

"Not too terribly," he replied, throwing his books down on their shared desk before going to flop down on his bed with a sigh, watching half-heartedly as his room-mate fussed with his hair in front of that silly mirror again. _He seems to spend half his life right there..._ "You sound cheerful, have a good afternoon, did you?" Craig grinned into the mirror at that, finishing with his hair and coming back into the main room to grab up his cell phone and keys, shoving them into his leather jacket pockets, which hung on the back of the desk chair where he had left it Saturday night.

"Indeed I have" he said, taking a seat on his own bed and continuing to grin at the red-head, "I went to see Dave, we talked a bit, made out a lot," he winked and Kyle rolled his eyes trying it fight the urge to seem amused at that comment, "I'm taking him out in a little while, food and a club, probably." He nodded towards the other teen, expression serious for a moment and Kyle almost wondered what on Earth might be coming next... "You should come along, it'd do you good, get you out of this place for a few hours and have some good, old-fashioned, alcohol educed fun." Kyle almost laughed out loud at the very suggestion, but managed to hold it back long enough to shake his head instead.

"No thanks, I've got some course work to catch up on and besides, I don't think I'd fit in at the sorts of places you're likely to drag me too."Craig stood at that and stretched, his hands almost reaching the ceiling when he reached straight up.

"Pfft, details You work too hard, you need to take a break once in a while." He sat down at the foot of Kyle's bed now, prodding at his friend with a finger until he sat up and pulled away from him, glaring, "I'll take you somewhere tame for your first time, promise." Kyle shook his head, wanting to be annoyed at the invasion of his personal space but eventually deciding Craig could be let off since he was in a rare good mood and an invitation to a gay bar, whether you were straight or not did not seem to matter to him, was his way of trying to be a good friend.

"What?" He asked, jokingly, "And have a bunch of leather-clad fags pinching my ass in the dark? No really, it's fine." Craig laughed happily at that for a moment, pushing himself up from his room-mate's bed and moving to grab his jacket after a quick look at the time.

"You don't know what you're missing" He said simply, throwing a wink at his friend as he made his way to open the door, pausing with his hand on the knob and the door ajar, "Just keep telling yourself that and maybe take your own advice and call Stan, my gay-dar says he's just as up for it as you are" he moved out into the hallway then, shouting back before slamming the door; "No phone sex without me, though! I'll know!" Kyle just scowled, unamused, after the other teen, there really were no words to that.

"Stupid Craig." He muttered, flopping back down on his bed again, lacing his fingers behind his head comfortably, "Stupid Craig and his stupid gar-dar." He added to his original thought, suddenly finding his previous position on the bed not as comfortable as he had before, rolling to his side and being forced to stare at the spot Craig had been occupying before he had disappeared off. "Maybe I should have gone along?" He asked the empty space he was now staring at, not in the least bit surprised when it offered up no feeling either way on the matter, "You're right, they're on a date, they don't want me hanging around like some awkward third wheel." He nodded to the emptiness which, for once, seemed to be giving him the answers he wanted before sighing and flipping back over to lie on his back again, eyes staring at the ceiling in an overly-interested way.

He could call Stan, he supposed. Should, maybe even. It had been a good few days since they had last spoken which was rare for the two of them. Back in South Park, they talked on the phone every day, even after spending most of their time together, but he supposed things were bound to change sooner or later. That did not mean he had to like it, though, as the traitor voice at the back of his mind continued to point out.

Stan was still is South park, living there, at least, he was at a college in Denver on a football scholarship which was what Kyle had always thought the other really wanted; To around people more like himself, sporty and _normal_, not like him at all...

He was glad Craig not around to hear _that _particular thought of himself, as much as they had not been close before, he had a pretty good idea that the other would quite happily flatten anyone who caused him to think such, gay or not. In that sense, the other teen was a good person to have a round and yes, Kyle thought that maybe once he had spent some time with Tweek again and gotten more used to idea of having a boyfriend instead of God knew how many one night stands, he might settle down to being more of a friend than an annoyance.

But as it stood right now, he was less than convinced of this. Craig had been telling him to 'get it together and tell Stan how you feel, already' since about a week of starting college, and where as the red-head always told him to leave it, he was quite impressed at how observant the other could be when he wanted to. Although he also thought it was a shame he could not apply the same to his own life...

It was pointless though, whether Craig was right or not. They lived a good way apart now and neither of them would have the time to go to visit the other once the term really got into full-swing – Kyle was already feeling the strain after just ten weeks, so even _if_ Craig was right? It was just not work so it did not matter. That was all there was to it. End of story, he was not going to think about it anymore.

_Even if..._

Kyle glared angrily at the ceiling, annoyed beyond all words that Craig had gotten him to even contemplate such a thing and now ruin what could have been a highly enjoyable evening to himself in their room now he did not have to worry when the other would come traipsing in having been to God only knew where (he still did not understand why he should quite so much, but he did anyway) but oh no, he had to spend the time torturing himself.

"Stupid Craig..." He muttered again.


	4. Chapter three

**Author notes; **Okay so, sorry again for not updating this in a while – real life nastiness has been all-consuming so I apologize to anyone waiting on an update, I really hope this makes you smile! This chapter is all about Tweek and that makes me grin stupidly XD I'm working on chapter four already so I'll try not to be as long next time. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far – I really LOVE hearing from you guys!

(I REPEAT - Please be aware that I am NOT American, so I'm sorry if some of the things I reference in this aren't 100 accurate – I TRY to get things as close as I can, but being all English and stuff, I sometimes automatically revert to the way things are done here. Opps.)

**Chapter Three;**

It was gone five on a Friday afternoon when Tweek finally got into his father's station wagon, which he had borrowed for the weekend. His parents had offered to get him his own car for his eighteenth birthday but he had told them he did not need one – he rarely left town and was happy to walk to and from Harbucks when he had work so it was unnecessary unless there was some special occasion like there was right now. He hated driving anyway, hated cars in general, but at least if he drove himself he felt a little safer and so he set off on the long drive in the best mood he could handle under so much strain.

He had planned the route he would take well in advance and memorized the road names and junction he would need to follow to avoid getting lost and having to ask for directions (that was a good way to get raped and murdered, after all), had got help from Token to wire his ipod into the radio so he had something good to listen to on the way and had called Craig just before leaving the house.

Two hours, Craig had said it should take. _Two hours! Driving how fast?!_ There was no WAY he was going to make it in that much time and he had told his so called friend that, getting just a laugh down the phone for his troubles.

He honestly did not know why he went through so much trouble for the other teen when all he seemed to do was laugh and call him some new, randomly thought up, nickname.

Well, he supposed he _did_ know, but...

"Stop thinking, Tweek, eyes on the road." He muttered to himself, reaching out a hand tentatively for the biggest size coffee Harbucks made cup which he had purchased and stored safely in the complimentary drink holder the car was installed with, drinking greedily after deciding the risk of driving one-handed was worth the reward of his precious coffee.

Not that he would actually tell anyone else that – he did not want them trying such a dangerous move with him in the car, after all. He had seen those emergency 911 shows where people had to be cut out of their cars for simply changing a channel on the radio and those jaws of life with HUGE. He wanted nothing to do with those, if he could at all help it.

_What was I thinking about, again...?_

Craig. Craig had asked him to call when he reached Fort Collins so that he could come down to the parking lot and meet him. That was it. Tweek had asked how he was supposed to find the right parking lot and again, Craig had laughed before telling him to 'look for me waving at you, Blondie' to which Tweek really had no reply – it should have been quite obvious, from what he had _said_, but that had not been what he _meant_ so he had tried again, Craig telling him to set up his hand-free and he would talk him in. That was good, that he could do, he thought.

Craig had gone on to tell him he should bring blankets and pillows and asked if the sofa was okay for him to sleep on. Tweek had told him it was fine, although he was pretty sure he would not be getting much sleep anyway – in his own room which he knew every corner of he had trouble, so just how he was supposed to manage in a completely alien room with other people and in a building full of strangers he did not know...

_Anyone could come in during the night. Just walk right on in and...!_

He shuddered and reached for his coffee again. It was starting to get dark already, which was not a surprise given it was the middle of winter, but if it was a matter of driving in the dark or fighting all kinds of crazy road-users during rush hour, he thought he had made the right choice, he would just have to deal with it.

His hands gripped the steering wheel a little more tightly at that thought and his teeth gritted themselves in his mouth.

It was going to be a long drive.

xox

Craig was freezing.

He had been standing in the student parking lot for his dorm for the last twenty minutes and he was still yet to spot the Tweak's dark brown station wagon looming into view despite, Tweek having called him half an hour ago to inform him that he had made it to Fort Collins (it had already taken him an hour longer than Craig had decided at that point) and that he was alright finding the place on his own as he had stopped for coffee someplace and found a map or... something. Craig had been saying goodbye to Dave at the time and had stopped listening around that point.

Which he regretted _now _that it seemed Tweek really did NOT know where he was going at all.

He was not annoyed at his best friend, though. Just at all the extra thinking he was managing to get in while he waited for him to finally arrive. That and he was on his fifth cigarette as well, those things were expensive and he had given up his hours this weekend in favour of spending some quality time with his best friend. _That's a hundred dollars I'll never see again..._

Not that he really cared, he had managed to get himself to a point where he was really looking forward to his best friend's visit. He thought Dave had helped there, between him and course work he really had not had much time to do anything even remotely close to worrying about the visit going horribly wrong, nowhere near as much as he had been doing so before, at any rate. And the more he found himself _trying_ to think about everything, the more he instead ended up looking forward to the weekend. Finally he felt like he was getting his best friend back, finally all those thoughts and feeling from before seemed to be leaving him alone like he had hoped they would.

_Tweek was way too good for me, anyway._

The dark-haired teen stubbed out his current cigarette and buried his hands in his pockets, ready for another walk around the parking lot and the roads surrounding it in the hopes that he might spot his friend, the whole trip taking him less than five minutes as he checked his watch again, gone nine.

"Where the hell is he..." He muttered under his breath, worry and concern easy to see on his face as he pulled his hands out of his pockets (they really were not helping them to warm up much at all) and bought them up to his face, cupping them to his lips and blowing on them instead. He was going to have to call him soon, did not _want_ too, knowing how much that would freak him out – the simple _thought_ of answering a cell phone while at the wheel was enough to cause a crash, if it was Tweek you were calling - and pretty certain the blonde would not answer _anyway_, so really it was a pointless thought but...

_It did NOT take this long to drive up from town, not even for..._

The headlights coming directly at him confused him at first, him having been so lost in thought, but he soon realized what was happening, letting his hands drop from his face, the tense feeling drop away from his body as he walked over to where the car had stopped, walking round to the driver's side and pulling the door open.

"Going for fashionably late, were we?" He asked, tone completely deadpan as he motioned for Tweek to move across so he could get in, he knew how much Tweek hated parking and since there were both there, he was happy enough to help him out. The manoeuvre took less than a minute and soon they were both standing out in the cold again. "Oh well," Craig said, slamming the driver's side door and handing one of his last remaining cigarettes to his friend, "At least you're here now." Tweek offered his friend a weak smile.

"S-sorry," he began, letting Craig light his own smoke first before borrowing the lighter to do the same, "The coffee shop I stopped at, their coffee wasn't right, so I helped them make it right. Because Coffee's important, you know?" Craig simply shook his head, unable to stop the smile that formed on his lips, _just like Tweek..._

"More important than visiting your best friend you haven't seen for months?" He asked, deliberately sounding hurt, "I'm insulted." This action, obviously fake or not, was enough to send Tweek into a fit or panic that maybe he really _had_ upset Craig, cigarette falling from his mouth and onto the ground.

"Jesus, no!" He exclaimed, only then seeming to notice the disappearance of the smoke, eyes widening when he saw it had fallen to the floor, hurrying to pick the thing up again and clean it off as best he could – although still unable to put the thing back in his mouth, Craig rolling his eyes and offering the blonde his instead, not thinking twice before putting the other in his own mouth, a little dirt never hurt anyone, as far as he was concerned. "It t-took three hours to get to town, man! The coffee I got before I left lasted less than half that! I had to stop three times to get more!" He took a long drag of his (_Craig's_) cigarette then, the nicotine filling his lungs calming him like the caffeine in coffee always had before it.

"Three hours it crazy, you could have done the whole thing in two, if that." Tweek just looked at him, uncomprehending. Craig sighed. "You just get on interstate seventy to Denver, then change to interstate twenty-five to Fort Collins. I told you that, Tweek, it's easy." Tweek continued to watch the other as if he were crazy, Craig shaking his head, taking one last drag of his smoke before throwing it, once again, to the ground and stubbing it out. "You're here now, that's all that matters." He repeated his earlier statement, grinning to his friend, showing he was glad that was the case, "You just worried me there for a while, that's all." That added, he moved to the trunk of the station wagon, using the keys he still held to open the thing and pull out the bags Tweek had bought along for his stay;

There were two, one a back-pack that Craig suspected consisted mainly of coffee and perhaps a change of clothes and the other a bin liner with the blankets and pillows Craig had asked the other to bring along if he wanted to comfortable and not freeze during his stay. He held the former out to his friend, before taking the bulkier one for himself, shutting down the trunk door again and turning back in time to see Tweek toss his own smoke onto the ground, watching as he mimicked the way he himself had stubbed his own out before. Sometimes, Craig felt bad for getting Tweek into the habit, but he still thought it helped him stay a little more calm so maybe that was okay.

"Come on then," he spoke, draping his free arm around the blonde's shoulders and pulling him into a slow walk towards the dorm entrance, "Let's get inside before one of us dies of pneumonia."

xox

Inside the building, Tweek hugged his back-pack to his chest and tried to keep up with Craig. He had taken his arm back at the big, double doors at the front of the building, noticing the other needed no key or card to gain access even close to ten at night Jesus! - _That can't be safe_ - further in, his opinion had not changed much; From the outside, he could see clearly that the there were two floors and as they moved down a single, long corridor with doors branching off on either side - some were closed but most were open and he could see they were largely communal spaces, games rooms, TV rooms, kitchen areas and a shower block as they neared the stairs to the second floor at the end - but the feel of the place was both cramped and open at once – Tweek was not sure he liked that.

Once upstairs, Craig stopped and turned to his friend; He looked worried, maybe even nervous about something, and that was enough to send Tweek over the edge before he even spoke a single word.

"If any of the guys say anything... weird to you," he said, speaking quietly as if not wanting to be heard, "Ignore 'em, alright?" Tweek nodded nervously, what on Earth would anyone want to say to him that would worry Craig anyways? He had no idea... Craig nodded back, offered a small smile and patted his friend on the shoulder, "Don't worry, Blondie, you'll be fine." And with that, he was out of the small stairwell area and back in another long corridor.

This one looked a little nicer, cleaner, for sure, but also more crowded. Friday night, he supposed, a lot of people talking across the hallway, leaving their doors open and getting ready for a night out on the town. He could not remember having seen much of interest when he had been there himself, but he decided that had been earlier anyway and the sorts of things that he thought of as 'a good time' probably were not shared by these people.

There _were_ a few comments made, but with Craig scowling at anyone who came too close, Tweek just did as suggested and ignored them – most of what was said made little sense to him anyway, so he guessed it was mostly for Craig's benefit, not his own. It did amuse him slightly, however, that everyone seemed to think all the brunette's friends would be gay, considering he himself was.

"W-well," Tweek ventured once they were both back safely in the room Craig shared with Kyle, "Y-you seem to have gotten yourself quite a reputation here, already." The shy smile he offered the other showed he meant no ill-thought at the statement and Craig only smiled before dropping the bag he had been carrying down on what looked to be the same old sofa Craig had owned and kept in his room back at South Park.

"You want a snack?" He asked, fishing through a cupboard on the wall beside the window, "There's a coffee machine down the hall, but we got a kettle in here, if you can manage roughing it on instant for the weekend." He grinned at that and Tweek nodded, he could live with that if it meant never leaving this room again (at least there was a lock on this door, he had noticed). "Hmm, share some noodles?" The other teen asked, holding up a packet of the quick-cook bagged snack in bacon flavour. Tweek nodded, he was a little hungry after his trip.

"Sure, thanks." He replied, his own bag still clutched to himself tightly and causing Craig to laugh when he closed the cupboard doors and turned to face him.

"No problem, you stay here, I won't be long." He nodded towards the washroom, "Take a look around, it's not big, but I think the three of us'll be alright just for the weekend, yeah?" Another smile, one Tweek returned easily, already glad he had gone through all the trouble of getting here, what with how... nice Craig seemed to be being. Maybe that should have surprised him, made him more nervous instead of less so, but after so long not speaking let alone not seeing one-another? The blonde was more than willing to let it go and just enjoy the change while it lasted.

"Alright." He replied, Craig giving him a quick nod before letting himself out of the room again, closing the door behind him, it taking Tweek all of a few seconds to decide and then drop his bag, making his way across the room to the door to lock it, _just in case_. That done, the blonde did indeed take a look around the place, still undecided if this was what he had expected to find or not...

The room, thankfully, was at the end of the corridor furthest from the stairs, which made Tweek feel a little safer, the idea of being surrounded did not appeal to him in the slightest. The two beds had what seemed to be school-supplied and matching bed-side tables by them and were placed either side of the door he currently stood in front of. To the left of the bed on that side was a chest of drawers and a wardrobe, he assumed his two friends shared both, and he could see a window in-between the two. Right in front of him was a single desk with a single computer on it, shelves lined the wall above it and seemed to be filled with books and papers, he could see papers sticking out of the desk drawers, too. The desk was pushed up against the washroom, the door wide open, and from what Tweek could see, the space was small. On the other side of the desk was two, double-door cupboards; one on the wall, one on the ground and a double window spilled light in-between the two. Next to that was a small TV with Craig's PS2 attached and at the foot on the right-side bed, the old sofa Tweek had already recognized as his bed for the next couple of days.

All in all, it could have been a lot worse. The space was almost immaculately clean, which did not surprise him at all, knowing Craig as well as he did, and he thought this helped it look nicer than it probably was. Still, he was there for the next three days and two nights, so he had better get himself organized.

Right away, he went to his back-pack which he had left by the sofa, fumbling through if for the coffee he had bought along, before locating and filling the kettle to boil – a cup of coffee would be a nice little reward for getting everything nice and neat for when Craig and Kyle came back, although he hoped the later would take his time – he wanted to spend some time with Craig, now he was convinced things would be okay.

It was, he decided, being back in the other's presence again. Sure he had missed his best friend, for a lot of reasons, but he had downplayed those feelings as much as he could to make up for his loss, he was only realizing just how good he had been getting at it now, not having to worry about it anymore. He chuckled quietly to himself, shaking his head as he placed the pillows he had bought along at one end of the sofa and folded the blankets at the other.

How ridiculous the whole thing had been now, so it seemed, all that worrying and nervousness when Craig seemed perfectly fine. Had when he had called him up, as promised and on time, too. Tweek shook his head again, taking a seat on his newly made bed. So, maybe this was not exactly how he had hoped things to work out, but after spending so much time without anything at all? He was willing to give up on that. No, he was _happy_ too; Having Craig in his life at all was far more important than having him in the way he wanted him.

Thought he wanted him, anyway.

"Everything's gonna be just fine." He whispered to himself, jumping up from the sofa when he heard a key in the door followed by a shout of; _'Shut the fuck up, Faggot! If you're so up for it? Come back next week when I'm free!'_ Tweek smiled slightly, maybe Craig had not changed that much, after all.


	5. Chapter four

**Author's notes;** HAPPY BIRTHDAY **MADOT! **This chapter is just for you since I had no idea what to write you and your present is gonna be kinda late – I really hope you like it! Myself, I think I rushed this a little, I wanted to get it done in time so yes, I probably did, and I also had SO many ideas as to how this would go, I had a hard time deciding on one which makes me doubtful as well... I hope you'll all enjoy and know that it really will be getting better soon!

(I REPEAT - Please be aware that I am NOT American, so I'm sorry if some of the things I reference in this aren't 100 percent accurate – I TRY to get things as close as I can, but being all English and stuff, I sometimes automatically revert to the way things are done here. Opps.)

**Chapter Four;**

"I don't know, Craig..." Tweek began, but in fact _did _know, he knew very well that he did _not_ want to do this. Clubbing was not something he had ever really considered, let alone liked the idea of. Of course his friend had assured him that they could stick to bars and be back before two in the morning, as if that was some great big gesture on his part - which it probably was to Craig, he supposed - but it still was far from helpful. The fact that Kyle had agreed to come too made him feel slightly better, since Craig had invited someone else along, anyway...

Dave Cameron.

Craig had first mentioned his new boyfriend as they sat on Tweek's (sofa)bed playing burnout revenge earlier that day, and the blonde had taken an immediate dislike to him. That reaction had made him more than a little uneasy and so, he had continued playing their game while listening to Craig as he filled him in, like a good friend would.

_Because that's what this is now, friendship, nothing more._

He had been telling himself that all day, for all the good it was doing. For probably the last week, truth be told, but still this turn of events had unnerved him somewhat, he was even starting to think he should use the get-out plan he and Kenny had arranged which was ridiculous when he forced himself to look back on how good it had been spending time with Craig again the past day.

He had slept better than he thought he would the previous night, waiting until he was sure Craig and Kyle were asleep before sticking his headphones into his ears and letting Matchbox Twenty lull him to sleep while blocking out the sounds of drunken students returning from wherever their Friday night on the town had taken them.

Craig had been gone when he woke up, but Kyle was there and the two of them talked while they waited for the brunette to return (he had gone for breakfast, Kyle had told him with a smile). They talked about South Park, mainly – Tweek sitting cross-legged on Craig's bed across from the red-head in his pyjamas, filling his friend in on the goings on of their hometown although there was not a whole lot to tell, in Tweek's humble opinion.

Stan's name had come up fairly early on and the blonde had not been surprised.

"Yeah, I see him when he's around town, when he's not too busy." Tweek had said, rocking back and forth in his place and wondering if it would be rude to make a cup of coffee mid-conversation. "H-he comes into the coffee shop a lot, always smiles and says h-hey." Which was true enough, that was the most he saw of the majority of his friends since they all left high school, if he was honest. He spoke to Token on the phone a lot but he was studying art in New York and he saw Clyde a fair bit, but as for the rest... "Kenny's there more, though. W-we hang out a lot, he s-said to give you a big, wet k-kiss from him but," Tweek tried an awkward smile, "You know." Kyle had laughed at that and shaken his head, Tweek thought he would have asked more about Stan if Craig had not returned at that point with a bag of muffins and a giant Harbucks coffee for Tweek.

They had all eaten together, talking about 'the old days' while they did so, laughing and joking until Kyle announced he had to go to work, leaving the two alone. They had talked a little more, Tweek still in his pyjama's because frankly, he had forgotten they were probably not what was called 'suitable attire', then they sat down to play video games, and that had been where the day had taken its down-ward spiral, as far as Tweek was concerned.

"I was thinking, we should go out tonight, let me show you around, yeah?" Craig had began, a certain hesitation in his voice that had straight away alerted to the blonde to the fact that something was not quite right.

"Sure, I guess." He answered, letting his suspicions show in his voice, "Where'd you wanna go?" Craig had been quiet for a moment then, as if he had not expected such a reply (he had not, in fact, although he really had no idea how any other reply would have made this easier).

"Just... A bar or two, I suppose." He replied with a shrug, as if it was no big deal, "I want you to meet someone, too, a... friend of mine." Another pause there and Tweek could see his friend watching him for a reaction out of the corner of his eye – he was not sure how to feel about that. He nodded. "His name's Dave, Dave Cameron, he's pretty cool, wants to direct." He laughed then, elbowing his friend playfully and causing him to lose control of his car, driving it straight into another and watching as the two skidded into a wall and burst into computer-generated flames. "Heh, sorry." He offered, but then went right back to what he had started to say; "Remember back in school when I wanted to do that? Probably good I changed my mind, don't think I'd have the patience, do you?" Tweek could not help but let out a small burst of laughter at that, he had _always_ thought so.

"Probably." He agreed instead, pausing himself, wondering if the way his mind was taking him on this subject was correct or if he would be laughed at for such a thought. "So, what's so special about this Dave person?" He asked, needing to know more than he feared the laughing – he thought he might have preferred that to being right, in fact.

Craig's pause told him he was right before he spoke a single syllable.

"Well, actually he's my boyfriend right now." He spoke slowly, this time not looking over to his friend, not that Tweek noticed since he was doing the same while trying not to look too bothered by this news.

"That's nice." He somehow managed through gritted teeth, again reminding himself that they were friends and he should be happy if Craig had found someone. _Yes, happy._ "When did this happen?" He heard himself ask, glad at least part of him was dealing with this in a normal way, "You never mentioned him on the phone." Craig did look over this time, not bothering to hide the fact that he was trying to read his friend for some kind of reaction before going on.

"We only met up last week, I wasn't too sure about the whole thing at first so I didn't say anything, but..." He trailed off and Tweek caught sight of a smile he remembered seeing once himself, "I told him all about my best friend, he wanted to meet you." The other continued and when Tweek glanced over to his friend, he was looking at him so expectantly that he simply had no choice but to smile back.

"Sure, that would be good."

Of course now he was being almost dressed by his friend using Kyle's clothes, he was less sure about the whole thing.

"It'll be fine, man." Craig soothed, once again fussing with his hair in the small, washroom mirror while Kyle rolled his eyes – the red-head could at least see Tweek's anxiety and was willing to offer some comfort. "Dave really wants to meet you and I really want you guys to be friends so just..." He came back into the main room and stood opposite his best friend, a slight smile on his face, "Give it a try, yeah? If it's too much, I promise we can come straight back, no questions asked." Again, the look in those sapphire eyes was something the blonde could not refuse.

"O-okay." He relented with a sigh, Craig grinning happily and giving his friend a pat on the shoulder before moving to get the door. Kyle made his way over to the blonde and offered a friendly smile.

"Try not to worry too much dude, worse comes to worse, we can both leave, can't say I'm looking forward to this much either." Tweek returned the smile, truly grateful if somewhat nervous still and nodded. It was good of Kyle to offer to come along so he would not be the odd one out, even if he only knew part of why he was dreading this whole thing, he was still glad.

"Thanks." He told him, eyes still glued to the now open door, although not being able to see much thanks to Craig's back doing a job almost as good as the door's had been of blocking his view. "S-say, have you met this guy?" He asked, tone and voice quiet so as not to be over-heard, "What's he like?" Despite the unease of the whole thing, he was curious and even though in the past it had proved a bad thing for him to have too much information, his need for some kind of anything right now seemed to cause that fact to be forgotten.

"I only met him briefly, but he seemed pretty cool." Kyle answered, watching Tweek as he continued to stare at the door, moving his head from side to side and sometimes going up on his toes to try and get a view, "He's helped Craig calm down some, that I'm more than grateful for, whoever ended up doing it." Tweek frowned at that, feeling immediately guilty and worried at the same time.

"What do you mean?" He asked, "Has something been wrong with Craig? Did something happen?" Kyle blinked at him for a moment, momentarily having forgotten the two had not spoken in a while and that thought being quickly followed by a wondering as to how exactly he could explain such a thing to his friend without causing him to freak out.

"I don't know, really," he settled on, because that was true in many ways – he knew the outcome of whatever had been bothering his room-mate, but not the cause, "I thought maybe it was because you and him stopped talking for whatever reason. Maybe it was – you called the day he met Dave so I don't know what did it, I'm just glad _something _did before he ended up destroying himself." Tweek wanted to ask more about that, _all_ of that, but Craig was leading his boyfriend over with an excited smile on his face and so the blonde left it and forced his best smile himself as he took the hand he was being offered by the guy he assumed had to be Dave...

The rest would have to wait, he decided, fake smile on his face as he shook the guys hand and only half listened to the words exchanged between them, all the time watching Craig carefully from the corner of his eye. Whatever it was that had changed, he would find out and maybe even do something about it. The idea that whatever the other had chosen to almost destroy himself with, he simply could not stand the idea that it may have been his fault.

_Just what happened to you? Just what did I do to hurt you so much?_

xox

They had walked from the university into the town, Tweek finding himself rather uncomfortably sandwiched between Craig and Dave, the two of them seeming hell-bent on involving him, whether he wanted to be involved or not. Kyle walked at Craig's side, trying to point such out to his room-mate on occasion, but to little avail.

To his credit, Dave did seem like a nice, friendly and good guy. He had asked Tweek about himself, laughed along when he and Craig had talked over a few bits and pieces of their childhood and had even asked if he was doing okay as they neared their destination. But then again, it was not really he who was the problem – more the one he was being so affectionate _to_. Tweek thought maybe they could have been friends if not for the small factor of him sleeping with Craig.

They stopped at the first bar they came to, and Tweek was not sure if he was glad for that or not. As much as the walk had been far from enjoyable, sitting at a sticky table in a loud and busy bar was playing on his already frayed nerves at more of a root level than everything else was. Still, a few drinks helped him to feel a little better about that, if not much else

On the fifth round, Kyle offered to help Dave with the drinks in hopes that his two friends could maybe talk a little more as their conversations had seemed to decrease more and more since sitting down. This worried Kyle more than it did Dave, he supposed, he wondered if their new addition had even noticed what with all the drooling he and Craig were doing over one another. Truth be told, he felt bad for Tweek without knowing the real reason the blonde seemed so miserable – having driven all that way to see his best friend and then being ignored was enough of a reason, in his mind.

"So, what do you think?" Craig asked, breaking the silence with the only thing he could really think to say. Just why everything had gotten so awkward between him and his best friend since he had mentioned his boyfriend, he really did not know. Tweek nodded, eyes darting a little wildly around the space he had found himself in, searching out possible escape routes. "You okay, man? You're not gonna freak out on me, are you?" The tone in his voice told Tweek he was joking, as did the smile on his lips, and Tweek took these into account, smiling very slightly himself.

"Nono, I'm just... You know, looking, thinking." He nodded there, wondering if further silence was better or worse than answering the original question, he supposed he owed his friend that much. "And yeah, he seems nice and you seem happy. That's good, I'm glad." Craig gave the blonde an odd look at that, eyes narrowing slightly in thought as he tried to work out just what he could feel was wrong about all this actually _was_.

"Are you though, I wonder?" He asked, tone serious as he watched for the other's reaction because something was not right here, and as far as he was concerned, that something was Tweek.

"W-what?" Tweek asked, confused, "Why wouldn't I? You're my best friend, I want you to be happy!" He added, eyes darting even more wildly now, the beginnings of what might well become a full-blown panic attack if not for the alcohol in his system, something he truly was glad about.

"Hmm." Was all the brunette said to that, his gaze moving to watch for Dave and Kyle returning with their drinks, Tweek feeling like yes, now maybe he_ would_ freak out. Then he grinned and clapped the blonde on his back, a little harder than he normally would sober, only going to confuse his friend more. "I know you love me, Tweeky, it's cool."

"WHAT?!" He practically yelped, causing's Craig's eyes to fly open wide at the sudden sound, Kyle and Dave joining them, taking their seats and handing out drinks, looking as confused as both Craig and Tweek did in that moment.

"We're friends, right? You gotta love your friends, man." Craig explained, Dave nodding along while Kyle continued to look as confused as Tweek did, although the brunette's renewed grin was helping the later feel a little better about what he had been meaning to say, no matter how unfortunately worded he had chosen to make it in his semi-drunken state.

"O-oh." He muttered, both relieved and not, "Sure Craig, yeah." He smiled then, Craig grinning some more and moving to give his friend a one armed hug before once more returning his attention back to Dave, the two of them soon laughing hysterically about something that had happened last time they had come to this place, leaving Tweek to let out a long, unsteady breath, glad for Craig paying the other more attention than himself this time and taking a long sip of his drink instead.

"Hey Tweek," Kyle called from his left, the blonde turning to face him, still looking more than a little dazed, "You want to go after this one? I'm kinda tiered and you don't look like you're having all that much fun either." Tweek smiled slightly and nodded – that was quite an understatement, right there.

"Yeah, I think so." He yawned and pulled at Craig's arm, moving his sleeve up to check the time while the other frowned at him, although apparently not seeing it important enough to ask about, turning back to Dave the moment his arm was returned to him and causing Tweek to shake his head. "I think I did my duty, and it's almost midnight anyway." Kyle nodded, taking a long drink from his coke before setting the glass down on the table, waiting as Tweek did the same to his own Bacardi and coke, then nodded.

"Hey guys, I think we're gonna head back now." The red-head informed, Craig sporting a rather amusing pout at that.

"Aww, but it's still early!" He complained, "I wanted to spend more time with my two favourite people." That pout was more pronounced now and there was a whining tone present in his voice that made Dave laugh and soon, Craig was joining him. Even Tweek broke a smile, Craig did seem happy...

"S-sorry, I have to drive back tomorrow, don't forget, I think an earlish night might be a good idea." His smile became more relaxed at that, the idea of being away from this soon making such a thing far easier, he found. "It was fun though, I'm glad I came and it was good to meet you too, Dave." Dave seemed more than a little happy to hear that, grinning back, the expression much like Craig's, Tweek was amused to note.

"Yeah, you too. Hopefully you'll be visiting again, right? For longer next time, that would be cool." Craig was nodding excitedly before Tweek had a moment to respond himself to that, it seemed the choice was no longer his to make.

"Sure he will!" He told both Dave and Tweek, looking between the two while grinning, "It's been too long already, man. Promise you'll come back again soon?" Tweek's smile was almost natural now as he swallowed the urge to laugh at his friend's not-quite-with-it words.

"I'm not going yet! We've got all day tomorrow, don't forget." He shook his head, "I'll see you later, alright? Have f-fun." That last word seemed to stick in his throat and he was not best pleased with the thoughts and vivid mental images which accompanied the statement but they said their goodbyes and he and Kyle made their way back up out of town and towards the university dorms the way they had come. Back at the dorm, Tweek made up his bed while Kyle changed and then did the same himself, settling down in his make-shift bed with a fresh coffee in his hands.

"You didn't seem to enjoy that very much." Kyle pointed out from his own bed, trying what he hoped was a comforting smile in the other's direction. "We could have left sooner if you had wanted to, I wouldn't have minded walking you back." Tweek took a sip of his drink and shook his head.

"No, it's fine. I came all this way to spend time with Craig, I should make an effort, at least." He smiled back then, shyly as ever, but sincere enough, "Besides, it wasn't all that bad. Kenny's dragged me along to worse places." He thought for a moment, a shiver running down his spine at the memories. "MUCH worse places, in fact." Kyle laughed at that, he could imagine.

"Still, it would be nice if Craig was prepared to offer you the same consideration instead of being so wrapped up in himself. That can't be nice to have to deal with." Tweek shrugged, drinking more of his coffee down before replying.

"It's fine. He seemed happy, that's all I care about." For a moment, Kyle wanted to ask him if that was really true, not knowing Craig had already done the very same earlier that evening, but instead he simply nodded.

"I suppose." He muttered, still not certain everything was as 'alright' as the blonde had claimed it to be, waiting until Tweek's coffee was gone and his cup placed to one side before moving to switch out the bedside light currently lighting the room, when Tweek spoke up.

"Hey, what about Craig?" He asked, Kyle pausing in his actions at the question. "You locked the door and turn out the lights..." He paused, a thought striking him then and making him feel not only more than a little miserable, but incredibly stupid into the bargain. "He's not gonna come back tonight, is he?" He asked, tone that quiet, nervous whisper that always said more than the words he spoke with it did.

"Probably not, Dave has a double, he'll stay with him, is my guess." He paused himself there, regarding Tweek with a curious look. "You don't like it, do you?" He asked, "The idea of him dating." Tweek thought to deny the obvious for all of a few seconds but really, what was the point? He shook his head. "How come, dude? Dave's a nice guy, Craig's your friend..."

"Yeah, I know." He replied, a little sadly. "Those are exactly my problems."


	6. Chapter five

**Author notes;** OMG! This has taken FAR too long, I am so sorry to everyone waiting for me to update, but I have had a HORRIBLY busy month and as well as this, CWB and the themes I'm writing I needed to get a fic written for a contest over on dA and... You get the idea, I'm sorry! This chapter is pretty pointless, but I found it fun to write so I'm hoping you'll forgive it's pointlessness and find it just as fun to read – enjoy!

(I REPEAT - Please be aware that I am NOT American, so I'm sorry if some of the things I reference in this aren't 100 percent accurate – I TRY to get things as close as I can, but being all English and stuff, I sometimes automatically revert to the way things are done here. Opps.)

**Chapter Five;**

It was not unusual for Tweek to wake up in a room which smelt of coffee – his parent's profession being only partly to blame - so even if that had been nice, it was not what had woken him. What had been the cause of this sudden, head-long dive into wakefulness had instead been the lack of a comfortable mattress beneath him – the lack of anything beneath him at all, it felt like actually...

"Nngh, wha...?" He asked himself sleepily, rubbing at his eyes and yawning before finally attempting to make some form of rational assertion as to what was going on. It did not take him long to realize this was not his own room he was waking up in and that yes, he was in fact, lying on the floor albeit still wrapped in his blankets. _I came to see Craig, we went out to a bar, Kyle walked me back so Craig could stay with his boyfriend, and..._

He pulled himself up and back onto the sofa with some effort, thanks to his limbs and blankets being rather impressively entwined and sighed, he had just noticed what was missing from the equation – Craig.

He wished he could be annoyed at the lack of his best friend considering he _had_ come all this way to see him, as Kyle had pointed out the night before, but... He frowned, where _was _Kyle, anyway? With a second yawn and some further untangling of blankets from limbs, Tweek got himself standing and saw the red-head's bed was empty and made – Kyle had gone. That puzzled the blonde for a moment, he was hardly a heavy sleeper, so would he not have noticed the other getting up? Then he felt something hard with a sharp edge jab him in his bare foot as he moved and remembered his i-pod.

"Wonderful..." He muttered to himself as he searched the blankets to retrieve the device and check it was still working – it seemed to be, thankfully. It was about that time that the thought of coffee jumped back at him as being an all-together awesome idea.

He found the kettle recently boiled and some coffee and sugar placed in a cup ready for him, there was also a note propped up next to it which he read as he waited for the kettle to re-boil itself.

"Tweek," he read out-loud, he did not much like the idea of being in someone else's living space all by himself and the sound of his own voice eased a little of the growing apprehension, "Sorry I couldn't hang around, I had to meet a friend so in case I don't get back before you leave, it was cool to catch up. Drive safe, okay? Kyle. PS; I started making your coffee – enjoy ." He smiled to himself, pouring the hot water into the cup and mixing the granules, sugar and coffee whitener together in a whirl of warmth, setting the kettle back down and drinking greedily from the cup, not caring as the liquid burnt his tongue and tried to do the same to his throat - Coffee was worth the pain.

One cup drained, he made himself a second and took it over to Craig's bed, checking the alarm clock on the bed-side table next to it – ten-thirty-three – before taking a seat there to wait for the other teen and think back about some of the things Kyle had said the night before which had kept him from sleeping well until the early hours.

Just why did the idea of his best friend dating upset him so much, anyway? And what was all this about him having 'helped Craig calm down' and 'stopped him destroying himself'? It seemed to him as though there were a million things that he had missed since Craig had moved and that only added to his list of worries. Why would Craig not confide in him? They were best friends, why would he shut him out unless...

He flinched at the thought.

It was always such an odd feeling, thinking back to Craig's last night in South Park. It made him feel both amazing and incredibly horrible at the same time, it was hard to know what to do with something like that, something so... _Genuine._

He shuddered at even the mental uttering of that word, it seemed to bring his memories to life more, to make everything all the more real. He took a long sip from the coffee cup tightly clasped between his hands as if the appendages were cold and he was trying to warm them or something, the heat was part of the calming process for him; He always held his cups this way and they would most of the time hurt, not that he really felt it anymore, not after so many years of the practice.

Should he ask Craig, perhaps? Mention that Kyle had been worried and just ask what had happened, what had gone so wrong and could he help at all... His eyes flitted to the door for a moment, some premonition that it would open there and then, maybe, before returning to the cup in his hands. No, asking him would only result in Craig getting annoyed at him for being nosey or he might actually TELL him and Tweek was already so sure it was all his fault, he did not think he could handle his best friend actually saying so – not after so long of not talking, not now.

"Selfish, as always." He muttered to himself, tone annoyed but tiered, as if he had had countless similar conversations with himself on the subject of Craig Cramer over the last few weeks, eyes narrowed but concerned as well and just...

_This is no good,_ he told himself, _he'll be back soon and if he's not? I'll call him on his cell and tell him I have to go. That's what I'll do. All I have to do is not think until then._

Not think, that was a joke!

He sighed, looked over to the clock and took another sip of his drink.

_Let the waiting begin._

xox

Before leaving for university, Craig had always thought of himself as a morning person. Even at the weekends when there was nothing to really force him out of bed, he rarely stayed there later than eight. He was slowly finding staying in bed had its good points though – even more so if you weren't the only one in said bed, that made all the difference.

This particular morning though, his lie-in had less to do with that, and more to do with a splitting headache and an extreme dislike to the idea of actually opening his eyes, somehow certain that such an act would only make the pain worse.

He seemed to remember going out the night before, to some bar or two in town. Nothing new there, it had been a Saturday night, if he was remembering correctly, and Tweek had come all the way from South Park to visit him, so why would he not go out for a few drinks and...

He frowned, eyes still closed – something did not seem quite right with that...

_Tweek had come all the way from South Park to visit him..._

...And he was in bed with his boyfriend, late and in a different part of the dorms.

_Fuck._

His eyes sprung open at that - and yes, he had been right that did indeed _hurt_ – pulling himself up to the muttered annoyance of Dave beside him who, apparently, was yet to reach his current state of painful wakefulness.

"Tweek!" He hissed at him, damn! How could he have just forgotten about him like that?! _'The drink, maybe?' _ A nasty, semi-audible voice at the back his mind informed him, _'or the fact that you were more interested in having some fun with your boyfriend, perhaps?'_ Craig shook his head, "I am such an asshole..." He added for his own record before throwing back the blankets – ignoring a way of nausea that hit him when he stood so fast he almost fell right back down again – and locate the clothes he had been wearing the night before.

_Shit, fuck, fuck, SHIT._

"...And Kyle said he had something to do this morning so he's probably on his own, too..." He continued with his own, personal monologue.

_Fuck!_

"What are you talking about?" The other teen muttered groggily, clearly in as much pain from the previous nights' exploits as Craig himself was, with the added bonus of confusion thrown into the mix for good measure, although seeming to work out what his boyfriend was going on about before he needed to explain, "He's not a child, I'm sure he'll be fine, calm down already." With that, Dave downed the glass of water from his bed-side table and promptly rolled back over to sleep some more, not that Craig was even looking his way anymore to notice.

"You don't get it, man," He muttered, mostly to himself again as he did up his pants and grabbed his shoes, socks and shirt, "I'll drop by later, yeah?" He got nothing more than a muttered 'sure' for his troubles before he was out of the door and running down the hallways back to his own room as quickly as was humanly possible with no shoes and God only knew how many empty bottles and cans littering the place. He did not think it took him too long in the end, and he only ended up with two beer-bottle caps imbedded his bare feet which he considered something of a bonus as he threw the door to his own room open and stood in the doorway catching his breath - all those years of soccer not match for a combination of smoking cigarettes and smoking not-so cigarettes – but at least Tweek's heart attack at his sudden entrance had been accompanied with an empty coffee cup instead of a full one, _that could have been messy..._

"Jesus, Craig! You s-scared me!" The blonde yelped, Craig noting the wide-eyed expression and feeling even worse for his friend now, offering him an apologetic smile as he made his way into the room, throwing the clothes he was not already wearing down on Kyle's bed and shutting the door before collapsing beside Tweek.

"Man, I'm sorry – I meant to come back last night, I just..." He smiled stupidly, feeling even more stupid for now being_ unable_ to apologize than he did simply knowing he had something to apologize for, "I forgot, I suppose." Tweek shook his head, managing a small smile as he reached over to put down his cup.

"Vodka will do that to a person, huh?" He tried to joke, sure the gesture was lost when he failed to followed up his words with anything even slightly resembling a real chuckle, "It's alright, so long as I got to see you before I went," he paused, not liking how that sounded out-loud, "I mean, t-to say goodbye, you know?" Craig either did not notice or simply did not see the big deal, instead just nodding along for a moment with a blank expression on his face before pulling himself up and collecting Tweek's cup, making his way over to the kettle and fussing with a cup for himself as well as his friend.

"Heh, yeah." He commented, still looking through the cupboards there before moving onto the washroom's pitiful excuse for such. "Hey Tweekers! You still carry a ton of pills everywhere with you?" He asked, making his way back to the perfectly timed boiling kettle to add water to their drinks, "I could use a couple'a aspirin if you do?" The blonde smiled and nodded, pushing himself to the edge of the bed and jumping down to find his bag and rummage through it, handing his friend a box of pills and getting a coffee in return – a good exchange, in Tweek's books. "Thanks man." Craig replied, swallowing three of the pills at once without the aid of any liquid and causing Tweek to wince, distracting himself with his coffee – _Craig was Craig, nothing's really changed, after all... _"I am sorry," the other spoke, almost causing the blonde's drink to end up on the floor rather than down his throat, "About making you come out last night and for not comin' back 'til now, you came all this way and..." He stopped there, Tweek watching intently, waiting for more of what was very rare to ever hear from Craig – an apology – but the brunette seemed to give up explaining himself with a sigh, "I'm just sorry, yeah?" Tweek nodded slowly, that urge to ask about all the things Kyle had mentioned, to maybe apologize himself, growing string again although for what he would be apologizing, he was not entirely sure... Had that not been dealt with already? Were they not trying to move on, if that's what this awkward silence was supposed to be a part of, anyway? He forced a smile and shook his head, leaning against the counter with his cup once again clasped in his two hands.

"It's alright." He replied, deciding to leave it at that before all those thoughts could take over so much that he would have no choice but to voice them. "I had fun, last night included, it was good hanging out again." Craig looked up to him at that, eyes narrowing slightly as he tried to pick up on any lies his friend might have been telling him, both surprised and glad to find nothing but truth there.

"Thanks." He said, smiling as he moved to ruffle the blonde's hair the way he always used to when they were growing up together, had done as long as he could remember, in fact. When was there a time when Tweek Tweak was not far away from him, anyway? Had there been such a time since that stupid, forced fight back in third grade? No, Craig did not think so - not one that came instantly to mind, at any rate - but far from making him feel better, that thought only seeming to cause a wave of anxiety – rare for the brunette indeed – at just how bad things could have been and all because he could simply not help himself. He dropped his hand at that thought, his eyes moving to where it rested, lifeless and limp at his side, and simply stared at what had only moments ago been imbedded in soft, golden hair...

"Craig?" A small voice asked, addressed teen blinking his gaze up to face his friend, unsure as to what he had been thinking while zoning out or even how long he had been doing so for – Tweek looked concerned, his knuckles turning white with the intensity in which he was clinging to his cup. He wished he could take that look and that worry away from his best friend, but what could he say? That he was thinking about how he had ruined everything? How he felt he was STILL ruining everything by simply not being able to say what he was thinking? That... "Are you alright...?" He smiled slightly and shook his head, how was it that Tweek kept stopping _him_ worrying himself into a heart attack instead of the other way around? Had that not been the way it _used _to be, after all?

"Fine." He replied, flashing a brief grin before moving himself to sit on the sofa that had previous been Tweek's bed, patting the space beside him for his friend to join him, determined now not to let anymore of these stupid thoughts ruin the rest of whatever time they had left before Tweek had to leave.

Sadly, there did not seem to be much else to think about and so Craig found himself at a loss trying to find a subject they could talk over – another thing to file away and worry about later, he decided, annoyed – at least until Tweek saved the day again.

"S-so, you're coming back home for Christmas, right?" He asked. Craig nodded, taking a mouthful of his own drink before answering the question. He had forgotten, in all honesty, made himself forget because really, if you were not talking to your best friend, what was the point in going home at all? But now he found himself almost excited at the idea.

"Uh-huh." He replied, chuckling as he remembered his last conversation with his mother a week or so ago, "Mom's all excited, she's gone re-decorated my fucking room, how stupid's that?! I'm gonna be back a couple'a weeks and she's re-decorating my room!" It really was stupid, but then again, he supposed he could understand why, in an odd sort of way... Since his father had left, he had been a lot more instrumental in helping out around the house and such and then he had gone away too. He had felt bad about that, sure, but as his mother had said at the mere mention of him maybe waiting a year before starting his studies; there was no point in him ruining _his_ life as well as hers.

Craig would never admit it to anyone barring a select few, but he cared about his mother and sister more than anything else.

"She probably misses you, that's all." Tweek told him with a smile of his own, of course he was one of those privileged few, "Enjoy it while you can, she'll change her mind once you're back, I'm guessing." Craig laughed out loud at that little joke, at his expense or not. This was what he had missed so much, what he had wanted back so much.

"What?" He asked, forcing a playful nudge towards his blonde friend, "You're saying I'm only all-around awesome when I'm not actually there? And you call yourself my best friend..." Tweek chuckled at that, happy to see his friend grinning at him, joking with him... He grinned himself then, his thinking following the same path as that of his friend and just glad to have it all back to normal once more. _This was better anyway, after-all, whatever had happened was over and done with now, Craig had moved on so maybe I should too?_

"Someone has to, don't they?" He said back, "I mean, being Craig Cramer's best friend isn't the easiest job there is, but a job's a job." Craig only laughed in response to this, he was the only one Tweek tended to joke with in such a way and he saw that as the compliment it was meant as, it not taking long before Tweek was joining in and _yes, this was definitely for the best._

xox

The rest of the day was spent in the way they had always spent their free time before; playing video games, drinking coffee and, as Craig's sister Ruby often told them; 'gossiping like a couple of girls'. Craig would flip her off when she said such things while Tweek tried to explain exactly what was wrong with her observation, normally the whole thing would end in an all out war between the two siblings – they got on well really, they just were too alike for the harmony to ever be a permanent thing – while Tweek retreated to the kitchen in search for more coffee to calm is nerves.

So this was so much better in a lot of ways – the coffee was closer here, for one.

Tweek heard Craig's cell phone go off about an hour later, but the brunette clicked it onto silent mode and tossed the device over to his bed saying _it was only Dave and he would call him back later, not to worry._

And Tweek did not, for once, opting instead to enjoy the rest of the afternoon before he had to take back to the road again – he could worry about _that_ plenty – in a few hours time.

Kyle came back around four in the afternoon and the three of them went for some coffee and a muffin at the coffee shop Tweek had stopped off at on the way into town, the blonde making sure to grab the biggest size coffee they sold before they left – one for the road, he had joked, then looked self-conscious when only Craig had laughed – half of which was gone before they arrived back at the dorm building.

By the time Tweek had pulled out of the dorm's parking lot, his coffee in hand and a flask Craig had dug up from somewhere filled with more of the same, just in case, a smile on his face – albeit a nervous one, thanks to the idea of driving all the way back home again – Craig had missed six calls from Dave, finding his cell phone where he had hap-hazardly thrown it earlier in the day only when he went to bed that night.

There was a text, as well;

'_Suppose u r having 2 much fun without me – c u tomorrow D'_.


	7. Chapter six

**Strawberry Fields Forever by Lar-lar.**

**Author notes; **Heh! You tell everyone you're going on hiatus due to being all sick and stuff, and then you post a new fic chapter – awesome. Nah, I wrote all but 500 words of this ages ago and just never glued it together, so I figured I could get it done and up if I wasn't gonna be writing for a while. This chapter is... Odd. I like it, I do, but I kinda wanted to have it later in the story but then I had no idea what to write for a chapter between the last one and this so in the end? I tried to make this work as well as I could, I hope it fits alright in your eyes. Craig sounds INCREDIBLY confused in this, but I think it's obvious why and if you've been paying attention? You shouldn't think it's too messed up. I hope... Enjoy?

**Chapter six;**

The next few weeks moved along as they had before;

Tweek drove back to South Park safely and rewarded himself with an extra large Caffé Mocha as he passed Harbucks on his way back. He called Craig to inform him of this triumph and unlike the brunette's boyfriend, got more than just his answer phone.

Craig went back to Dave, apologizing to the teen for missing the calls which the other seemed to bring up at any given opportunity. Craig was surprised at how little this seemed to piss him off but decided not to think about it too hard – it was all for fun, after all.

They both also called each other most days, neither of them realizing just how nice that small thing was to have back.

It was during these once again regular conversations that it became clear to both of them that things had finally gotten back to how they had been before – they were best friends again. It was not awkward anymore. They could talk and laugh and it was good.

And there were reasons for this.

Craig would bitch about Dave every now and again and Tweek would listen and try to ignore that pull in his chest while reminding himself that things were fine just the way they were - it worked and it was good and _leave it, for Christ's sake! Just leave it!_

Tweek would talk about work and sometimes about a girl who had come into the store that 'seemed nice' or who 'had a pretty smile' and Craig would respond as best he could with a murmured sound of feigned interest as his eyes narrowed and he fought the urge to say something, to point out that he was to good for them, _not_ _my Tweek._

They made plans for Craig's Christmas vacation. He would have a month at home, Token would be coming back too and he and Clyde were looking forward to having their quartet together once again.

They planned to throw rocks at cars from the pass like they had done when they were kids (not Tweek, he just watched and screamed 'BE CAREFUL!' every now again, pulling at his hair because of 'the pressure') and to throw parties and to just catch up.

To have fun.

Craig casually dropped into the conversation that Dave would be visiting for the third week, Tweek pretended to be as excited as Craig sounded, saying how great it would be to see him again, so that the three of them could hang out and have fun and...

Craig believed his words and his tone and tried to sound like it did not hurt as much as it did.

They had moved on, at least on the surface.

xox

Kenny smirked to himself as he caught sight of Tweek through the big, coffee house window; The blonde seemed happy, darting about from table to table, brandishing a white cloth with which to clean them, none of that particularly unusual, but Kenny noticed something else too – the blonde was smiling. Kenny could only think of one reason that might be, his recent trip to visit Craig being at the fore-front of his mind as he moved from his vantage point to get his thoughts confirmed, the jingling of the coffee house bell hung above the door not even making the other teen flinch, a feat that was completely unheard of.

"Kenny! I'm happy you came by!" Tweek greeted instead, "I'll get you a drink, on the house, and we can talk some, if you have time?" He did not wait for a response, making his way to make the other's drink, humming to himself as he did so and only causing the addressed teen more confusion, him nodding slowly, his previous good-feeling becoming something closer to worry as he made his after his friend and took his regular seat at the counter.

"Thanks." He said, sitting down and waiting while the other fixed his drink, still humming as he did so, "You certainly seem happy today, anything you think you should tell me at all...?" He tried to add his normal tone of smirk, as Kyle called it, to his words but the fun was gone out the situation now – Tweek this happy was just creepy. The blonde handed the other his drink and let his smile become a grin as he took his seat on the employee's side of the counter, plucking a packet of biscotti out from underneath where he sat and chewing on a piece for a moment, a faraway look in his eyes.

"Heh, I think I might do, Ken." He said finally, grin becoming a dreamy sort of smile again now, "It's been a pretty good week, you know?" He chuckled to himself at that, Kenny only gaping at just how different the teen in front of him was from the Tweek he knew and... Well, put up with, he supposed.

"So, what?" He asked, finally finding his voice again, "You and Craig kissed and made up, did ya?" Saying the words gave him a little of his good-humour back, managing a grin and hoping that he could maybe get some of the gory details into the bargain if Tweek continued in his own happy way. Although, the look on his had certainly changed – he looked positively traumatized. "Tweekers?"

"M-me and Craig? Kiss and make up?" Kenny nodded slowly again, getting confused again now, "NO! Craig's got a boyfriend now! Dave! DAVE!"

"Okay okay, calm down Tweek, okay?!" Addressed teen nodded, gasping to get his breathing under control once again, "Alright, now tell me what happened? I figured it was Craig making you so happy, that's all, didn't mean to freak you out, man." Tweek let out the breath he had been holding, he supposed that made sense, although he had not realized he had been acting that differently...

"I-it's okay, I mean, I had fun with Craig sure, but like I said, h-he's got a boyfriend now, he's getting on with his life so I figured it was time I did the same, you know?" Kenny let out a sigh of relief, that did make sense, "T-that seemed like the right thing to do, don't you think?"

"Yeah man, if that's what makes you happy." That seemed to return the smile back to Tweek's face, nodding in answer to Kenny's words and deciding that yes, this was the right thing to do. Craig was happy with Dave, Dave had helped him in some way that he still did not fully understand beyond after their night together, Craig had changed and Kyle had been worried and then... Dave made him better. Tweek had done something to hurt him, Dave had fixed it and now Craig was happy again. Tweek could not have fixed it, did not even know what it was but Dave had, and that was good enough for him. It had to be, he decided. "So, you gonna give me some details or what?" Kenny asked, grinning as he took a sip of his mocha.

"I called Sarah," he told him, the smile slowly growing not so much at the memory of her, but more out of how it was easier to distract himself from other things when she was around, "We met up two nights ago and I'm seeing her again tonight. It's going pretty good, I think." Kenny once again eyed the other curiously, wondering if even he believed what he was saying. Since so many of his friends had left town for one reason or another, Kenny had come to think of the twitchy blonde as one of his closest friends, certainly he was far better company than Cartman and Stan hardly had any time for anything anymore but on top of all that, he cared. Something he knew his old friends understood, but when it came to Tweek... He was unsure as to how he should go on.

"That's good, I suppose." Kenny responded, taking a sip of his drink while Tweek frowned, trying to decide if his friend was being nice or not, said friend obviously picking up on that, "You're trying too hard, if you ask me." He enlightened, not helping Tweek's confusion much at all.

"W-what?" He asked, finding his voice failed him as he tried to put his thoughts into words, "T-trying too hard?" Kenny nodded, maybe the other really did not see what he was doing? It was possible, he supposed, to blind yourself so well that you honestly could not see anymore. He had a good idea that was what Craig had been trying to do, from what Kyle had told him when they spoke on the phone, and he sure as hell knew Stan had...

"Didn't you guys break up during the summer break?" Tweek nodded, wringing the cloth he had been previously using to clean tables nervously in his hands, his previous good mood effetely destroyed now that Kenny seemed less than happy about his news. He did not think Kenny was being mean, or at least did not think he was meaning to be, but still that old paranoia from childhood, mostly quietened these days by logic and reasoning, still reared its ugly head every once in a while.

"Well, yeah but that was 'cos of Craig and that..." He paused, Kenny knew all about that, as much as he was willing to put into words, at any rate, and he got the impression that Kenny read what he had chosen to hold back well enough to understand better than he could have ever hoped to explain it anyway. "That's over now. It's not gonna happen." He smiled then, shrugging as if that was no big deal, which he had decided it really was not, not in the grand scheme of life, the universe and everything – not that knowing this really helped much...

"You're sure about that?" Kenny asked, tone even and blue eyes clear as they gazed deep into Tweek's own coffee coloured orbs, there was complete honesty in that look, and that was something Tweek had come to like about Kenny – he felt he could trust him. "Or sure enough to give up and settle for something you don't really want, at least?" He went on, the tone and gaze remaining constant and making it hard for Tweek to tell if he was judging or trying to help.

"I'm not gonna hurt her, if that's what you mean," he said finally, picking his words carefully so as not to sound too defensive and yet not to seem unsure either. Because he really was not – he had talked to Sarah when they had met up two nights ago, had explained his feelings as best he could as to why he had felt they should end things the first time and he fully intended not to cause anymore pain. "I wouldn't do that, if it doesn't work? I'll stop it, but I did like her, do like her, I want to try, that's all." Kenny nodded at that, seemingly satisfied with the other's words and finally dropped his gaze, taking another sip of his drink.

"I'm not saying that, man – I'm just asking if your happiness isn't worth just as much as his." He continued after swallowing the sweet, hot liquid and considering how to word his other concern some more. It was hard to speak to someone you did not know as well as other in these kinds of situations, he decided, but he knew Tweek had come to trust him and found that made it a little easier.

"I..." The blonde behind the counter began, obviously surprised that Kenny's concerns should be turned to him, but neither undeterred nor unappreciated of it, "I want Craig to be happy, and he is." The small smile returned and Kenny knew it had to be genuine, that Tweek really did believe what he was saying, true or not. "It's just not with me, that's all."

"Tweek..." He began, almost glad when addressed teen shook his head, stopping the words he had yet to think up dead in their tracks and feeling rather annoyed at himself for being so relieved.

"No Kenny, don't say it." He added to his shaking of the head, "I'm going to see Sarah tonight and I'm going to try and make this work. I mean, if he can be happy, then I should be too, right?" Kenny smiled this time, nodding back and amazed to hear that those were the words maybe he could have said if he had only tried a little harder. Still, they had been said, one way or another, and that was what mattered.

"Yeah man, of course." He told him, taking a hand from his now empty mug and moving it to touch Tweek on the arm, smiling towards his friend in an act he hoped showed he was both proud and that he cared. "He's an idiot, you know." That actually got a chuckle from Tweek as he moved his own hand to cover Kenny's showing he was grateful for the sentiment, if nothing else.

"Maybe." He compromised, he doubted very little that Craig could be an idiot, but whether or not he was being one this time he simply could not and did not want to see. Instead, he motioned to Kenny's empty drink, leaving the conversation there, "Want a refill?"

xox

_Two days to go._

Two days and Craig was going to be back in South Park with his friends and his family and...

_Fuck._

"What's wrong?" Dave asked, his voice cutting through the darkness and causing Craig to jump, he had been sure his boyfriend had been asleep. Craig shook his head; He was starting to think he might actually be able to manage something serious with this guy (Tweek was happy now so why not?) he liked him and he seemed to like him too and he was certainly not prepared to mess all that up by spilling his crazy thoughts out all over the damn place. _Whatever next?_

"Nothing." He replied, forcing a yawn and trying to sound half asleep should any more questions have been on the other's mind, "I thought you were asleep, what's kept you up so late?" No answer came for a few seconds, seconds that seemed like hours, before a sigh greeted him followed by movement as the other shifted to lean against the headboard and finally to switch on the light. "Jesus! Give me some warning next time, you could've blinded me!" Craig tried to joke, aware that something was going on but unable to work out just what and wanting to make whatever it was go away...

"It's Tweek, isn't it?" Dave asked, looking over to Craig as he pulled himself up too, catching his surprise a fraction of a second too late to hide it from the other, "I thought so." He added simply, the look on his boyfriend's face, even for that small amount of time, answering his question for him and causing said boyfriend's eyes to narrow.

"Hey, wait a second!" He almost snapped, his temper mildly better than it had been back in his South Park days, due mainly to his as of recent apatheticness, and fast returning to the norm now things were 'looking up', "What's that supposed to mean, anyway?!" He had a good idea without asking the question, and even if that was some truth in the assumption, he was far from thrilled to be confronted with it. After all, it was one thing to do something and a completely different one to simply think about it, right?

"You talk in your sleep." Came his sharp-toned reply, Craig frowning and wondering just what that had to do anything.

"So what?" He asked, obviously Dave was going somewhere with this, and he was too annoyed to waste time trying to figure out where when the other could simply let him in on whatever stupid idea he had gotten into his head this time...

"So you don't think you'd feel a little weird if your boyfriend was saying some other guys name in his sleep?!" If the tone before had been sharp, that was down-right snappy, something that was all but guaranteed to get the same thrown back.

"Not really, no." He said coolly, because he knew some of the things he had been accused of saying in his sleep and in his mind, the muttered of a name was just as random as the rest of it. "Look, Tweek's my best friend, we hadn't spoken for weeks before I saw him when he came down, there's no big conspiracy going on here, Christ!" He sounded steadily more annoyed as he went on, probably because he _was_ more annoyed.

"It's not just that though!" The other snapped back, his own tone seeming to hold a certain amount of panic, "You completely blew me off while he was here, too! Don't get me wrong, he seemed like a nice guy, but maybe I would have liked to be included a little more in your 'BFF' fest!" Craig glared at him, had they not already had this exact same argument a hundred times already?!

"That's bull! You have any idea how much Tweek hates clubs and bars! I dragged him out so I could spend time with you both and then I totally forgot about him to spend the night with you... Fuck, I missed a few phone calls, I said I was sorry, you gonna bring it up every single time you get some crazy idea in your head?!" Now he was getting just plain angry. Not so much for the lack of trust or even Dave's own obvious annoyance, but simply because of the subject matter; he did not want to talk about any of this. Dave's reaction to this annoyance though was far from what Craig had expected – he looked almost hurt.

"What DID happen between you two?" He asked, sharpness blunted from his voice as he spoke, now reduced to a mere whisper, "You never did tell me." That simple question was enough to take the bite out of Craig's own voice, the brunette instead staring into his boyfriend's eyes as he thought just how much of what was going through his mind he prepared to put into words. He did not know if he could have explained everything, even if he had wanted to – he did not understand himself, how such a huge amount of control could be taken away from a person by a simple feeling, a feeling that was supposed to be great and amazing and...

"I..." He shook his head, what could he even hope to say? "It was nothing. Drunken mistake, that's all." That was true in his mind – they had been drunk and if this was what he got from it, if this confusion and turmoil was what his payment for that one night was? How could it be anything but a mistake? He offered up a tiered smile, this part he felt he could be honest about, at least. "Look, I really don't wanna talk about this now – I got a big exam tomorrow and then I need to get ready to go back to that shit-hole town for the holidays..." He sighed, "Can we just go to sleep? Please?" Dave studied his boyfriend intently for a moment before nodding slowly. The exam and packing were both true, he knew that much for a fact, and he also knew Craig was not the sort of guy you pushed too hard too fast – he may have taken his reputation before they got together with a pinch of salt, but he did indeed take it. After all, going back to South Park meant going back to Tweek, and the last thing he wanted was to give Craig any more ideas towards the blonde. "We can talk later, I promise, just... I can't think right now – too much going on and," he paused, offered a patented Craig Cramer charmers grin, "You've got your own packing too, remember? Don't you have a certain hot and sexy brunette you'll be visiting in a few weeks, hmmm?" Dave laughed at that, shaking his head but glad the other had bought it up – he was looking forward to meeting Craig's friends and family and... If the other was willing to do all that, surely this whole thing meant something to him, right?

"Yeah, sorry." He said, turning to turn off the light before pausing and looking back to Craig once more, "I like you Craig, that's all. I hope you know just how much." Craig forced a smile, he knew alright, and maybe that was part of the problem...

"I know, it's alright, yeah?" He let himself lay back down and nodded toward the light which Dave still had his hand on the switch of, "Why not turn that off and come over here." He opened his arms out to his boyfriend who smiled, taking his offer as a confirmation of his own feelings, cuddling close to the brunette, wrapping his arms around him and resting his head on his chest with a contented sigh.

"Thanks." He told him, yawning a little, suddenly more tired than he could remember being before, "Sorry." He smiled this time, a small smile but far less forced as he moved a hand to run through Dave's hair. He remembered having done the same to Tweek many times before; At sleep over's or at parties or just...

"'S fine, really." He soothed, himself wide awake, eyes staring straight up to the ceiling in the dark, the only thing he was able to see being Tweek.

xox

**Extra note;** TWEEK HAS A GIRLFRIEND XDD I LIKE bi!Tweek, leave me alone


End file.
